In the 100 meter dash, it took Carl Lewis 2.96 seconds and Ben Johnson 2.85 seconds to run 20 meters. For 50 meters, it took Carl Lewis 5.56 seconds and Ben Johnson 5.55 seconds.

-- Jun

Yes, I actually had second thoughts about my "non-athlete" statement there, sorry, but still, O'Sensei did not just have to run the distance, a leaping forward roll would have probably covered atleast 5-10 meters in a very short time.

The point I was trying to make though was that it was not a test to see if he could "dodge bullets", rather it was a test of his awareness and timing.

And maybe... O'Sensei had the same level of fitness and ability as those great athletes you mentioned, he was afterall, an incredible martial artist long before unifying his training into Aikido.

Again I apologise for my less than accurate statement. Still though, I used to run 50 meters in 8-10 seconds back when I was 12, I just assumed that an adult with a larger stride would be able to cover more distance quicker.